Expanding super‐resolution microscopy to semiconductor materials through fluorescence contrast engineering

Abstract

Abstract Super‐resolution microscopy (SRM) has revolutionized biological imaging by overcoming the diffraction limit. However, its application to semiconductor materials has remained limited owing to the lack of effective strategies for generating material‐selective fluorescence contrast. In this Personal Account, we describe our efforts to extend SRM to semiconductor nanostructures by developing a series of chemistry‐driven fluorescence contrast generation strategies. We first established material‐selective fluorophore labeling through electrostatic surface interactions, followed by transient adsorption imaging that eliminated permanently immobilized fluorophores, and ultimately demonstrated fluorophore‐free imaging using chemically enhanced intrinsic photoluminescence from semiconductor defects. These complementary approaches have enabled nanoscale structural imaging, defect inspection, and three‐dimensional characterization of semiconductor nanopatterns while progressively shifting the origin of the fluorescence contrast from external molecular labels to the material itself. More broadly, these studies illustrate how engineering fluorescence contrast can expand SRM beyond biology to semiconductor metrology and nanoscale characterization of diverse inorganic and organic materials.